The Wackiest Races of the Summer
by DancingAnimalGoddess19
Summary: The members of the Wacky Races spend the entire summer participating in a series of races in the USA and in other parts of the globe, while also enjoying summer fun after each race and meeting new friends and enemies. But Dick Dastardly and Muttley are determined to make sure their summer consists of winning the races, even if it means cheating and other bad deeds to get there.
1. A Special Summer Invitation

_As we all know, summer is the most exciting, most magical time of the year! The school year ends for kids, warm (if not extremely hot) weather returns, and fun begins!_

 _But for a certain group of daffy drivers to whirl their wheels in the Wacky Races, summer this year will mean much more!_

It was the second week of June, and one member of the Wacky Races, Dick Dastardly, was seen in the kitchen of his home drinking some coffee.

"Muttley, go fetch me the mail!" Dick ordered his dog, Muttley.

Unfortunately for Dick, Muttley was too busy enjoying his kibble.

"I said get the mail you slacking slowpoke!" Dick yelled at Muttley as he threw a shoe at him.

"Rassuh-frazzapazza snacken fracken bracken." Muttley muttered as he left to get the mail.

After using a stepstool to reach the mailbox, Muttley opened the mailbox and pulled out some envelopes and a newspaper. After the shaggy mutt gave Dick the envelopes and newspaper, Dick searched through them hoping to find something interesting and satisfying, but had no such luck.

"Bills, bills, nothing entertaining or sinister in the paper." Dick grumbled. "Nothing neat at all!"

But it wasn't until he opened another envelope and found something that finally interested him.

"Well, well, what is this now?" Dick smiled as he opened the paper to read it.

"Dear members of the _Wacky Races_ , you are invited to take part this summer…"

"In a series of races in parts of the United States as well as some parts of the globe…" Peter Perfect read his own invitation as he hosed and washed his car, the Turbo Terrific, only to have it fall apart again as usual.

"While also getting the chance to enjoy your favorite summertime traditions and activities." The lovely Penelope Pitstop read while she polished her fingernails by the pool deck.

"Oh how neat!" She smiled in delight.

"Attached to your invitations, are your racing schedules." Rufus Ruffcut read while petting his beaver, Sawtooth, who was reading along with him.

"The third week of June, which is of course, next week." Lazy Luke read while his sidekick, Blubber Bear read over Luke's shoulder. "The Race to Stone Brooke Park."

"The fourth week of June: The Long Hot Miami Beach Bust." Clyde of the Ant Hill Mob read with Ring-a-Ding and the rest of his boys.

"The week after that, which is the Fourth of July weekend…" Private Meekly read the invitation.

"Will be the 4th of July 500 at Washington DC." Sergeant Blast finished.

"The second week of July: The Hair-Raising Race in Hawaii." Professor Patent "Pat" Pending read as he was working on a new invention.

"On the third week of July, you will be speeding through the city of Los Angeles…" The Red Max read before he chuckled. "In my case, flying through Los Angeles. And starting on the 4th week, you will be racing in a few different US towns and cities and will also travel some parts of the globe outside of the USA."

"Before the near-end of the summer." Little Gruesome read.

"Where you will be racing in the State Fair as part of the grand finale of the Summer Races." Big Gruesome finished.

"Raga-radda, ASAP right away." Rock read the last sentence of the invitation.

"Rah, see you in the races." Said Gravel.

"Signed, Sir Bill Carnett." Dick finished reading his invitation.

After Dick finished reading his invitation, his telephone rang, so he put the invitation down and answered it.

"Hello." Dick answered.

"Why hello, Dick Dastardly my good fiend" Peter Perfect greeted before he awkwardly stammered. "Er, I mean friend. Have you received your invitation to the summer races?"

Dick was peeved that it was one of his "do-gooder" competitors that called, but he tried to keep his cool and act friendly and casual.

"Why yes, I certainly have." Dick chuckled. "And of course this is a golden opportunity that I, as a Wacky Racer, just can't turn down."

"Glad to hear it, Dick." Peter replied. "Now listen up. All of us racers will be heading off to City Hall, where we will meet with Sir Bill Carnett to confirm that we are all interested in participating."

"Well, what time will that happen?" Dick asked.

"We're heading off to City Hall right now." Peter told Dick. "The sooner we get going the better so that we can meet everyone. Will I be seeing you there?"

Dick then smiled evilly.

"You bet you will." Dick smirked. "Muttley and I will meet you there. Farewell, Peter."

After hanging up the phone, Dick laughed evilly and Muttley snickered his famous snicker.

Dick: "I'm glad we got those invitations to compete in a series of races this summer! Do you know what that means Muttley?"

Muttley tilted his head in confusion.

"It means we'll have the entire summer to sabotage those ridiculous racers, and we'll have an ENTIRE SUMMER to finally win, even if it means going to great lengths to cheat to win!" Dick laughed. "Now let's get going to City Hall."

From there, Dick and Muttley took off to meet the rest of the Wacky Racers at City Hall to confirm that they would definitely be attending…


	2. City Hall and Meeting Rebecca Romaine

A few moments later, all the Wacky Racers were seen at City Hall, eagerly waiting to meet Bill Carnett so that they would have the chance to confirm that they'd be participating in the summer races.

"It's a pleasure to see all you Wacky Racers here in my office at City Hall." Said Bill Carnett, a white haired older man wearing a navy blue and white business suit. "I trust you have arrived to verify that you are all taking part in this year's Summer Races?"

"Every single one of us, sir." The professor replied before turning to the other racers. "Isn't that right my friends?"

The other racers agreed in unison.

"You bet we are." Dick grinned evilly.

"It looks like so thrilling!" Penelope was no doubt excited. "And is it true that after the races, we'll have time to catch up on other little ole parts of summer?"

"Absolutely, my dear." Bill answered.

Peter: "I'm just as thrilled as you are, Pretty Penny. What exactly is planned for us after each race?"

"I do know that after the race at Rock Brook National Park, there's a special camping trip." Bill explained the post-race summer activities to the racers. "And there's also the 4th of July fireworks show in Washington DC and a beach party after the Hair-Raising Race in Hawaii."

Lazy Luke: "That sounds like a darn good time! Which is what we'll be needing after the races. Right guys?"

"Right." Said the other racers.

"Is there any specific prize for the winners after each race?" Dick wondered with an evil smirk.

"I do know that, after the Summer Races finale from a state fair in another state to be announced to the State Fair in this state, there will be a grand prize of one hundred thousand dollars, as well as the title of the Summer's Wackiest Racer!" Bill announced, much to the delight and excitement of the racers, mainly, Dick and Muttley.

Bill: "How many of you think you have what it takes to win the grand prize and the title of the Summer's Wackiest Racers?"

"I do!" Said all the racers in unison.

Penelope: "I have hope that it'll be little ole me."

Clyde: "I know we've got what it takes. Right, boys?"

"Right Clyde." Answered the rest of the Ant Hill Mob.

Red Max: "I'll be sure to win the prize, for my name isn't the Great Red Max!"

"I wouldn't count on it yet, you do-gooder dodos." Dick sneered. "If there's anyone here that deserves that grand prize, it's me, and only me!"

Muttley growled and bit him in the butt.

"Ouch!" Dick yelled in pain. "Okay, okay Muttley. It's us and only us!"

"Razzen-Frazzen-Backen that's better!" Grinned Muttley before he snickered.

"Such passion from every one of you." Bill commented with a smile. "Especially from you, Dick Dastardly. That's what I like to see."

"Excuse me." Said a female voice.

The racers and Bill turned their heads and saw a beautiful young woman in her early 20s. She had long, curly light-brown hair, brown eyes, and she wore a forest green short-sleeved sundress and gold sandals. Alongside her was a female red fox sidekick on a leash.

The male racers were very taken aback by her and fell for her.

"And who might you be my child?" Bill asked as the girl and her fox walked into city hall to see him and the racers.

"Pleasure to meet you sir Bill Carnett." The girl introduced herself. "My name is Miss Rebecca Romaine, and this is my sidekick, Fiona Fox."

"Rebecca Romaine." Peter sighed after Rebecca smiled flirtingly and blew a kiss to him and the other males. "What a lovely name for a lovely lady."

Peter was about to go up to her, but Penelope, out of spite and jealousy, grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him back.

"Boy, we just met you, but already we think you and your fox are gorgeous girls." Clyde told Rebecca.

"Rebecca sure is pretty." Rufus thought. "She might even be prettier than Penelope."

Penelope gave him a dirty look for what he said.

"Oops. Sorry Penelope." Rufus stammered. "I didn't mean it. You and Rebecca are both equally pretty."

"I'm here because I am wondering if there's a chance that I can sign up to take place in the summer races this year." Rebecca wondered, hoping that she was not too late.

"Why yes my dear Rebecca." Bill smiled.

"Does she have _any_ racing experience?" Penelope scoffed with jealousy.

"Glad you asked." Rebecca answered with a smile. "In my younger years, my daddy was, and still is, a huge fan of watching races and learning so much about them, that I picked up the same passion for racing that he has. Since then, I researched racing, took part in a few races when I finally became old enough, and built my race car, the Forest Engine, out of my love of both racing, and nature."

The racers were impressed, but Penelope still felt jealous of her.

Prof. Pat Pending: "So you're into nature, I see?"

"I sure am." Rebecca smiled. "I also adore animals, especially woodland forest critters."

"Your fox is just as perty as you are." Luke told Rebecca as he pet Fiona.

"Why thank you." Rebecca replied.

"Please, do tell us more about your vehicle, Miss Rebecca." Peter asked Rebecca.

"Well, my Forest Engine was, like I said earlier, built out of my passion for nature and forests." Rebecca began to talk about her car. "With it, I can use all sorts of things based on nature to help me get to victory. I can even use all four seasons and elements to reach victory. For instance, with the pull of a lever, I can use wind to carry me to first place, rain or a snowstorm to eliminate competitors, and even blue bird power to peck other racers' cars, but one time they ended up pecking a racer's eyes. It was horrible, but aside from that, my Forest Engine is one trusty car and I've had a few victories all thanks to its reliability."

The other racers were impressed.

"It's a pleasure to get to know you, Rebecca." Bill told Rebecca. "You and Fiona are free to sign up for the Summer Races."

"Oh thank you so much!" Rebecca squealed with delight as she confirmed her RSVP to the races. "What a pleasure to meet every one of you! I'll see you next week in Rock Brook Park!"

"You too, Rebecca." The male racers called back as they left City Hall.

"Muttley and I will see you too, missy." Dick chuckled in secrecy. "And we'll have something cooked up for you on the road, won't we Muttley."

Muttley nodded and snickered.

As Rebecca walked out of City Hall, Penelope quickly went to her.

"A little ole word before we get to know each other in the races." Penelope confronted her. "You can have any guy in the Wacky Races _except_ Peter Perfect! He already loves me and I love him, so he's already taken."

"Hey, take a chill pill, Penelope." Rebecca tried to assure Penelope. "I don't even have an interest in dating him anyway."

Penelope: "You don't?"

Rebecca: "Not at all."

Penelope: "Then why were you making eyes and blowing little kisses with him?"

"I guess I was being a little too friendly." Rebecca felt guilty. "I didn't mean to make you mad or jealous. Like I said, I don't have a crush on Peter Perfect."

"Well, then all is forgiven." Penelope smiled as she hugged Rebecca and petted Fiona. "It's a pleasure to meet you and your little ole fox."

Rebecca: "It's great to meet you too, Penelope."

Penelope: "It's neat that you're interested in joining the races this summer. I just might have a little ole bestie, once we get to know each other more, that is."

"We can anytime, Penelope." Rebecca told her new friend as they got to their cars. "I'll see you soon."

"I'll see y'all too, Rebecca!" Penelope called to her as she drove away.

Elsewhere, Dick and Muttley watched and grinned wicked grins.

"The first race is next week, so we've got to get planning." Dick told Muttley. "Let's get going and we'll think of something.

The diabolical duo ran off to plan their cheating for the first race.


	3. The Race to Stone Brook Park

_Today marks the first race of the Wacky Summer Races. Today our Wacky Racers will be racing cross-country from the famous Yosemite National Park all the way to the finish line in Stone Brook National Park!_

It was now the third week of June and it was now time for the first round of the Summer Races, which was the race to Stone Brook National Park.

 _Ladies and gentlemen, here to race this summer are, in order, the Slag Brothers, Rock and Gravel Slag in Car Number One, the Boulder Mobile…_

The audience of the race cheered and applauded as the racers' names were being announced and as the racers waved to the audience.

 _The Gruesome Twosome in Car Number Two, the Creepy Coupe. Ingenious inventor and scientist Professor Pat Pending and Car Number Three, the Convert-a-Car! Flying ace and air daredevil the Great Red Max in his car-plane hybrid, Number Four, the Crimson Haybaler! The lovely Glamour Gal of the Gas Pedal, Penelope Pitstop and her car Number Five, the Compact Pussycat!_

Many male members of the audience cheered for Penelope and whistled catcalls to her.

"Oh, hi y'all sugars." Penelope giggled as she blew a kiss to the clapping, cheering audience.

 _Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly in Number Six, the Army Surplus Special! The Ant Hill Mob in Number Seven, the Bulletproof Bomb! Lazy Luke and his sidekick, Blubber Bear in Car Number Eight, the Arkansas Chuggabug!_

"I don't know about you, Blubber, but I think this will be one exciting race to remember!" Luke chuckled to Blubber, who now became nervous at Luke's idea of an exciting race.

 _Mr. Peter Perfect in Car Number Nine, the Turbo Terrific!_

Fangirls in the audience screamed with excitement and kept calling Peter's name as he waved to them and other members of the audience.

"Ladies, prepare to be proud and dazzled." Peter smiled as he blew a kiss to the screaming fangirls.

 _Lumberjack Rufus Ruffcut and his buck-toothed sidekick, Sawtooth in Car Number Ten, the Buzz Wagon! And introducing Miss Rebecca Romaine and her best friend, Fiona Fox in Car Number Eleven the Forest Engine!_

"Thank you, thank you all!" Rebecca called out as she waved to the audience. "It's an honor to be here my friends!"

 _And last, and most certainly least, is the no-good Dick Dastardly and Muttley in Car Number Double-Zero the Mean Machine._

All Dick received from the audience were loud boos.

"Oh, boo yourselves." Dick shouted angrily.

"Are you all ready, wacky racers?" Asked Bill Carnett as he held a black and white checkered flag.

"We sure are, Bill!" The racers shouted.

"Good! And…Go!" Bill shouted as he waved the flag downward, giving the racers the okay to get speeding.

 _And away they go as they leave Yosemite and race into a wooded area that leads to Stone Brook Park! Leading the way is the Ant Hill Mob, with the Slag Brothers in second place, and the Army Surplus Special in third place! But where's Dick Dastardly? I must wonder._

Dick was in last place.

 _Aww, too bad. He's in last place._

"That's not gonna last long, though." Dick chuckled evilly before speeding to an open part of the woods. "I'll trick those meddlers with this 'Deer Crossing' sign! They'll all stop, thinking a herd of deer will pass, keeping them in one place for a long time while Muttley and I keep speeding with an easy win!"

True to his word, Dick hammered a yellow diamond-shaped sign that read "Caution: Deer Crossing" and sped off to hide.

 _Meanwhile, back in the woods, Rufus Ruffcut takes the lead, followed by the Creepy Coupe, But Rebecca Romaine and Fiona Fox in the Forest Engine are in third place and challenging the Gruesome Twosome for second place. But the Gruesome Twosome turn on Dragon Power to keep the Forest Engine in its place._

Little Gruesome pulled the lever in the Creepy Coupe, and out came a green fire-breathing dragon that growled and roared at Rebecca and Fiona. Rebecca showed no signs of fear or surprise though. Instead, she bopped the dragon on the nose with a stern face.

"Bad dragon, down boy." Rebecca scolded the dragon as if he were a dog. "Shame on you for being so mean and trying to scare me and my fox. That is just plain naughty."

The green dragon bowed his head in shame.

"Are you gonna be a nice dragon and are you gonna let me pass?" Said Rebecca sternly.

The Dragon nodded.

"Okay, then. Come here for some petting. Good boy!"

Rebecca giggled as she kept petting the Creepy Coupe's dragon and gave him a gentle scratch under the chin.

 _And so Rebecca's love of animals and dragon training abilities make her a new friend and a place in second position._

After petting the dragon and giving him love, Rebecca passed the Creepy Coupe, determined to gain the lead. She and the other racers kept racing smoothly until they stopped at the Deer Crossing sign that Dick and Muttley had placed.

"What's going on here?" Pat wondered why everyone stopped.

"What in tarnation is this?" Luke exclaimed.

"Read this." Rufus turned his head to the other racers behind him while pointing to the sign. "It says here, Deer Crossing. We'd better wait for them deer to come."

"Well if there are any deer crossing this area, I hope there's cute little baby fawns." Penelope gushed. "They're just so cutesome!"

Hidden from sight, Dick and Muttley laughed at the other racers falling for his trick.

"Now's our chance to get back on the road. Let's go Muttley."

"Razzen-frazzen-backen you've got it!" Muttley snickered as he and Dick ran off to the Mean Machine and sped off.

 _While Dick takes off with a lead, the other racers are still waiting for some deer to cross._

"Are you sure there's deer crossing this road?" Clyde grew impatient.

"That is what the sign said." Private Meekly replied.

"Well I, for one, am sick of waiting." Pat frowned. "We still have a race to win."

Pat pulled a lever in the Convert-a-Car, and out sprung giant wings that started flapping, sending Pat into the air.

"If he's flying, so will I!" Red Max said as the Crimson Haybaler started to go up in the air.

 _Feeling motivated and inspired to take to the air, the Gruesome Twosome once again shifts into Dragon Power and up they go!_

Impressed by the cars of Professor Pending, Red Max, and the Gruesome Twosome and their abilities to fly, Rebecca decided to take action.

"Time to take this baby into Eagle Power!" She grinned.

After Rebecca pulled the lever, the Forest Engine sprouted powerful eagle wings that flapped hard and lifted her up.

"Hey, boys! Wait for me!" Rebecca shouted as she flew off.

 _At least four racers were able to get back in the race, but whatever are the rest of the crew to do?_

"At least four vehicles got to leave." Peter was slightly envious of Pat, Red Max, the Gruesome Twosome, and Rebecca and their cars. "We've been waiting here forever."

"There aren't any deer approaching." Rufus told everyone else while looking for deer. "We've been tricked!"

"Well in that case, let's go!" Sergeant Blast shouted, sending the racers driving once again!

 _And so once again the wacky beat goes on as the Forest Engine, now back on solid ground, takes the lead, with the Arkansas Chuggabug in second place._

"Isn't this place just so scenic, Luke?" Rebecca loved how beautiful the woods looked.

"Yup. And mighty peaceful, too." Luke replied as he relaxed as usual.

"I've been here before. It's most beautiful during the fall."

All of a sudden, some mud caused the Forest Engine to go spinning off the road and into the neck of the woods.

 _Oh no! The Forest Engine just mud-slid off the track, and into far-off area in the woods._

The Arkansas Chuggabug also slid on the mud and also went spinning into the woods.

 _And the Arkansas Chuggabug slides into the same fate and crashes into the Forest Engine._

The Arkansas Chuggabug accidentally crashed into the Forest Engine, causing Luke to fall into the air and onto Rebecca.

"My goodness, Rebecca!" Luke gasped. "I'm mighty sorry. Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm okay, Luke." Rebecca looked into his eyes while he helped her back on her feet.

 _But it looks like they're gonna be here for quite some time. Who would do such a thing?_

"I can't tell you that." Dick laughed evilly, holding a can of mud and a paint brush.

 _Elsewhere, the gorgeous Penelope Pitstop has the lead and is striving to keep the mosquitoes away._

"This little ole area's getting plain buggy." Penelope sprayed herself with bug spray. "Perhaps this isn't the best day to wear my favorite perfume."

But she made a sudden stop.

"What is this?"

She saw a lost baby duckling.

"Oh my, you poor little ole ducky." Penelope went over to the little yellow duckling and gently held it. "You seem lost, and you look like you miss your mama."

The duckling nodded and chirped sadly.

"There now, it's okay. Don't cry little one." Penelope whispered and calmed the little duckling. "I'll find your mama and take you home to her."

Penelope went into her car with the duckling in tow and drove to the pond where the duckling's mother and siblings lived.

"There we are." Penelope smiled as she carried the duckling to the pond. "Is this where your family lives, sugar?"

The duckling chirped happily and quickly swam to his mother. The mother duck quacked in happiness and gratitude.

"Why you're welcome Mama Ducky! Farewell!"

Just as Penelope took two steps or less away from the pond, Dick looped a rope Penelope's waist, holding her arms against her body, and pulled her to him and Muttley, spinning her and tying her up in the process.

"Oh!" Penelope gasped as Dick tied the rope around her body. "What are y'all doing?"

"Destroying your chances at winning by putting you out of the picture." Dick grinned a wicked grin.

"Hey-elp!" Penelope shouted for the other racers to come, only to have her calls for help interrupted by Muttley gagging her with a white cloth that covered her nose and lips.

From there Dick lifted the tied-up and gagged Penelope into his arms and, with Muttley, took her to some railroad tracks and laid her there.

"In a few moments, the 4:15 will come and not only put an end to your opportunity for first place, but your life as well!" Dick laughed as he tied Penelope's ankles together while she was laid down on the tracks. "That'll be one less competitor to worry about."

"Now excuse me while I sabotage the rest of your competitors!" Dick called back while he and Muttley took off with evil snickers; leaving Penelope tied up, gagged, and not able to escape the soon-to-come 4:15 train.

 _While Penelope Pitstop is left struggling on the railroad tracks, Lazy Luke and Rebecca Romaine are still struggling to find their way out of the woods._

Blubber Bear started to blubber nervously.

"Blubber, don't panic." Luke tried to reassure Blubber. "Panicking is the worst thing you can do in a time like this. But I'm starting to get all panicky, too. Our cars need fixing and we're stranded here! What can we do?"

Rebecca scratched her chin as she tried to come up with a plan to get her, Fiona, Luke and Blubber out of the woods and back in the race.

"A-ha!" An idea came to her head. "If I can only summon my friends of the forest to come help us. Here I go."

Rebecca began to sing a lovely tune. Her soprano singing voice attracting the attention of birds, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, deer, quails, foxes, and an owl. The animals followed the sound of Rebecca's singing voice and came to her and Luke.

"Welcome one and all, my friends of the forest." Rebecca greeted the animals. "Luke, Blubber, Fiona and I need your assistance! Our cars have crashed into this part of the woods in the middle of a race. Do you think you can help us?"

The forest critters looked at each other, then nodded before they got started repairing the Forest Engine and the Arkansas Chuggabug.

 _Thank goodness the animals were able to fix Car Number Eight and Car Number Eleven. Lazy Luke and Rebecca Romaine might be able to race after all! Once they get out of these woods that is._

"Yee-haw!" Luke cheered. "Our cars look good as new!"

"They sure do!" Rebecca was no doubt thrilled and happy. "Thank you forest friends for repairing our cars, but we're still lost. Please send out an SOS to the other racers."

The animals nodded in agreement and went to signal their SOS.

 _Meanwhile, Peter Perfect is in first place, followed by the Red Max in second place, and the Slag Brothers in third. They're heading to the railroad track where Penelope Pitstop is still tied up._

Penelope was still tied up on the railroad track, helplessly struggling and hoping for someone to save her.

"Hey, look at that." Private Meekly pointed out. "Miss Penelope Pitstop's tied up on that railroad track."

"Hllp! Mmph!" She tried to cry out through her gag.

The minute he saw Penelope bound and gagged on the tracks, Peter immediately slammed on his brakes, as did the other male drivers, causing them to crash into each other.

"Hang on, Penelope!" Peter, despite the crash, quickly dashed off to Penelope's rescue. "I'm right here for you my dear!"

From the sound of the train whistle, the 4:15 was approaching, so Peter lifted Penelope into his arms and carried her off the tracks and started untying her just in time before the 4:15 came speeding down.

 _Thank goodness, Peter saved her just in time!_

"Oh Peter, thank you ever so ever for saving me from that dreaded 4:15." Penelope praised her hero while he removed her gag and held her in his loving arms.

"It was my pleasure, Pretty Penny." Peter replied, Penelope's arms wrapped around his neck as he held her. "You were real fortunate to be alive."

"And you're gonna be even more fortunate. Just for your good deeds, here's a special reward, you dear sweet gentleman."

Penelope gave him a quick, but loving kiss on the cheek. This caused Peter's body to stiffen and become hot pink, and he fainted backwards. Penelope chuckled a bit and blushed herself.

"You alright Peter?" Clyde asked in a worried voice as the other males came to him.

"Best day of my life." Peter answered as he still felt his love spell.

The racers soon heard the cry of birds as the flying flock, as well as Fiona, came to them.

"Look, it's Fiona Fox!" Cried Red Max.

"Yeah, but where's Rebecca?" Rufus wondered.

"And where are Lazy Luke and Blubber Bear?" Penelope asked.

Fiona barked as her way of telling the other racers what happened.

"Luke and Rebecca are stranded in the woods?" Pat asked Fiona.

Fiona gave a sad nod.

"Don't you worry, Fiona." Pat gave Fiona a gentle scratch behind the ears. "Come with me, girl, and we'll find them. You birds lead the way."

As soon as he hopped back in the Convert-a-Car with Fiona, Pat turned his vehicle into a flying machine and followed the flock of birds to Luke and Rebecca's location.

Luke, Blubber and Rebecca were pacing the woods, waiting for the birds to come back, when they heard the birds chirping.

"Hello, down there!" Pat shouted to Luke and Rebecca.

"Hello up there, Professor!" Rebecca shouted back. "Thank goodness the birds found you!"

"Do you think you can help us?" Luke asked Pat. "As you can tell, we're lost."

"I'll be more than happy too." Pat agreed to help. "Just hop into your vehicles and I'll fly you two back to the race."

Luke and Blubber hopped back in the Arkansas Chuggabug, and Rebecca and Fiona in the Forest Engine. Still in mid-air, Pat pulled a lever that let out two large clamps that held both the Arkansas Chuggabug and the Forest Engine.

 _And so, with the help of Car Number Three, Cars Number Eight and Eleven are back in the race!_

"Hi, everyone!" Yelled Rebecca.

"Did you miss us?" Luke shouted to the racers.

"Why Rebecca!" Cried Penelope. "Great to see y'all again bestie!"

"You're real lucky to be alive, Luke!" Peter told Luke.

"Drat, drat, and double drat!" Dick growled. "I for one didn't miss them! Come Muttley! We've got to create another plan."

 _We're almost at Stone Brook National Park, and this time all the racers are on track, including…_

"Exactly, wise-guy." Dick chuckled as he schemed his next scheme. "But what evil plan shall I come up with to foil those racers?"

Muttley spotted a skunk and poked Dick's shoulders.

"What is it, Muttley?"

Muttley pointed to the skunk.

"A skunk?" Dick hatched up a wicked plan. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Muttley, you're a genius! If we catch that skunk, we can use him to spray the rest of those do-gooders! They'll be too disgusted by their skunk stench to keep going and we'll be the winners of this wacky race!"

Dick laughed evilly before turning to Muttley.

"Here they come, Muttley. Help me catch that skunk!"

Dick and Muttley quietly and slowly crept behind the unsuspecting skunk, and then Dick caught it with his hands.

"Gotcha!" He laughed. "Now be a good skunk and help me stink up the competition."

Unfortunately for Dick, the skunk was struggling to break free from his grasp, and he sprayed Dick and Muttley with an unpleasant odor.

 _P.U! Now that's what I call the smell of defeat for Dick Dastardly!_

 _Meanwhile, we're almost at the finish line, and it's anybody's race! In the lead is Car Number Four, the Crimson Haybaler, followed by Penelope Pitstop and Rebecca Romaine._

"Why ladies." Red Max smiled. "I'll let you go if you want."

"Aww, how generous of you, Max." Penelope told Max. "Alright Rebecca, who should pass him first?"

"Does it matter?"

A wise and right idea came to Penelope's head and heart.

"Since this is your first race, I'll let you go first, okay Rebecca?"

"Oh thank you Penelope!"

Rebecca passed Penelope and Max and gained a first place lead.

 _Almost to the finish line! This is it! The winner is…_

Rebecca and Fiona crossed the finish line.

 _Rebecca Romaine and Fiona Fox in Car Number Eleven wins the race! With Penelope Pitstop in second, and the Red Max in third place!_

 _And as for poor, victory-less Dick Dastardly…_

Elsewhere, Dick and Muttley were soaking in tubs of tomato juice to get rid of the skunk stench.

"Muttley, this is all your fault." Dick snarled at Muttley, while also showing signs of disgust at the skunk smell. "You and your so-called brilliant ideas! Victory could've been all ours had it not been for your stupidity!"

But Muttley ignored his master's insults and snickered and he soaked in his tomato juice bath.


	4. Campfire Fun and A New Villain

_Following each summer race, our racers will have the chance to take part in a variety of their favorite summer activities! Tonight, they will be spending the night at Stone Brook National Park's famous campgrounds._

That night, after the race to Stone Brook Park, the racers, minus Dick and Muttley were now seen at the park's camping site, hanging out and talking by a campfire.

"Boy, it sure feels great to breathe in some wildlife after the race, doesn't it, guys?" Rebecca took a breath of fresh air and a smell of the burning campfire as she gave Fiona a gentle scratch behind the ears.

"It sure does, my dear Rebecca." Professor Pat Pending agreed. "A night under the stars, time spent in the wilderness."

"And mostly, a break from the hustle and bustle of the suburban life." Finished Peter.

"I kinda miss the suburban life right now." Said an annoyed Penelope, trying to fend off bugs with her cans of bug spray. "I like nature, but it's so hard to keep the little ole mosquitoes at bay."

"Okay, everyone, I've got the hot dogs out for dinner tonight." Rufus told everyone, brining out hot dogs, hot dog buns and condiments.

"Excuse me, do you by any chance have veggie dogs?" Rebecca asked Rufus.

"I can check."

Rufus looked to see if there were any veggie dogs for Rebecca, and found more than one.

"There they are, Miss Rebecca." Rufus smiled as he brought them out.

"Oh, thank you!" Rebecca hugged him. "And there's more than one. Who else is a vegetarian?"

"I am." Private Meekly admitted.

"Thank goodness, someone here who understands my vegetarianism." Rebecca thought to herself as she got a stick and started roasting her dinner from there, just like everyone else.

Later on, after everyone finished their hot dogs, Penelope and Peter came out with a bag of marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers and placed it on the picnic table.

"Oh how neat!" Rebecca grinned with excitement while Penelope and Peter helped place the s'mores stuff out. "Who's up for some s'mores?"

"Some what?" Asked Luke.

"Some s'mores, Luke."

"What are those?"

"You mean to say you've never had a s'more before?"

"No. Not at all."

"Well then, you haven't lived, Luke." Peter chuckled. "But don't worry. We'll show you how it works."

From there, Peter took out two graham crackers.

"You see those two graham crackers I just pulled out? Well, you place a piece of the chocolate bar onto one square graham cracker." Peter began to explain how to make a s'more to Luke. "Then you place your marshmallow on the very end of your stick, and place it in the fire. Then, take the stick out of the fire. Sure the marshmallow will catch fire, but it needs to burn a bit."

He blew out the flames from his burning marshmallow.

"Then you center the cooked marshmallow on the chocolate, and from there, put the other graham cracker square on top of the marshmallow and the chocolate, and voila!"

"Dessert is served." Penelope giggled.

"How downright neat!" An impressed Luke gaped. "It sure looks tasty! I'll take it from there!"

"In fact, so will I." Said Rebecca as she and Luke grabbed some sticks and started roasting their marshmallows.

"So Rebecca, how does it feel to win your very first race?" Clyde asked Rebecca.

"Yeah, Rebecca. How does it feel?" Asked the other racers in scattered voices.

"Are you kidding me, it feels amazing to know that I won the first round." Rebecca was no doubt proud of herself. "But I couldn't have done it without any of your help."

"Oh, Rebecca, what I did to help you and Luke when you got lost in the woods was nothing." Pat told her sheepishly.

"Us mud-sliding and getting lost in that there patch of woods was crazy!" Luke exclaimed. "We barely made it out of there alive!"

Blubber Bear blubbered fearfully at Luke's talk of getting lost.

"How did you send those forest creatures to come to us for help?" Red Max, along with the other racers, minus Luke of course, wondered.

"I simply beckoned those forest critters with my singing." Rebecca explained to the racers how she sent her SOS. "Like a princess from a fairy tale, my voice sends the creatures of the forest to come and assist me with anything I need. Watch."

From there, Rebecca started singing her song to call her animal friends to her and the racers. The animals that helped her and Luke in the race earlier came to the racers.

"Welcome my friends of the forest." Rebecca greeted them with a smile. "It's a pleasure to see you all again."

The animals made their noises in agreement.

"I would like for you to meet my new friends!" Rebecca introduced her forest friends to the rest of the racers.

The other racers started petting the forest critters as they came to them. They were absolutely impressed by Rebecca's skills and talents with forest animals.

"Why, Rebecca, you have a little ole way with animals!" Penelope complimented Rebecca as a blue bird flew onto her finger.

"I agree with Penelope!" Sergeant Blast told Rebecca as a deer licked him.

"And she's good at taming dragons." Said Little Gruesome.

"It's great to see that everyone made some new friends!" Rebecca smiled at her animal friends becoming friends with the racers.

"What shall we do next?" Red Max asked.

"I know!" Rebecca's mind hatched an idea. "Who's up for some ghost stories?"

"My boys and I are!" Clyde replied. "I know plenty of good ones! Ones that will likely keep you up all night!"

"So do I!" Rebecca said to the Ant Hill Mob. "In fact, in my days as a girl scout, I won my merit badge in ghost story telling! And I was the only kid who never got scared by any."

"Well, my ghost story will scare even the bravest, thick-skinned humans." Clyde replied.

Seeing the two get competitive with each other over whose ghost story will be scarier gave the other racers an idea.

"Here's an idea." Pat announced. "Clyde, Rebecca. We might as well hold a contest to see whose story is scariest."

"We'll just know who the winner is." Big Gruesome said.

"Who wants to go first?" Penelope asked Clyde and Rebecca.

"I'll go first." Clyde told Penelope, before turning to everyone else. "Gather round everyone. This one's gonna be a good one!"

"We shall see about that." Rebecca mumbled.

"Long ago, on a summer night, just like this one…" Clyde began to tell his ghost story. "A group of campers visited a camping site, just like this one…"

Elsewhere, Dick Dastardly and Muttley were planning their schemes to sabotage the racers in next week's race.

"Muttley, we've got to think of something for the next race." Dick told Muttley as he paced the floor of his home searching for ideas. "We need something even more wicked, and much more smarter than your last attempt to beat those washed-up racers."

Muttley pouted at that remark.

"The next race is only a week away. So help me make with some more brilliant ideas!"

"Rassuh-frazzapazza snacken fracken bracken." Muttley muttered as he went to get a sketch board.

Back in the campgrounds, Clyde was finishing his ghost story.

"And as the last two campers thought they were safe, they heard the sound of loud footsteps ,coming closer and closer, right behind them. What they weren't prepared to know, was that the footsteps belonged to none other than, the ghost of Ranger Jones. They say, that on summer nights such as this, Ranger Jones returns, looking for unsuspecting campers, and then…"

The rest of the mob held each other and shivered in fear along with some of the other racers.

"He grabs them!" Clyde popped out behind the rest of the Mob and the racers, scaring them and sending the Mob running off, making Clyde laugh hard.

"What did you think?" Clyde asked his fellow racers.

"Gee, Clyde. You sure got us good." Ring-a-Ding chuckled himself as he and the mob came out of hiding.

"No kidding." Peter caught his breath.

The other racers laughed before Rebecca spoke up.

"Now here's mine. It was a dark, summer night, similar to the one we have tonight, and …" She counted the number of racers including herself and Fiona. "Twenty-two friends were spending that night in a campground, just like Stone Brook Park's campgrounds…"

After a while, Rebecca started to finish her ghost story.

"And it's been told, that on warm nights, when the moon is full, just like tonight's moon, you will hear footsteps, as well as loud breathing, and standing behind unsuspicious campers, such as you, is the Creature of Moon Lake, seeking vengeance!"

All of a sudden, the racers heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes.

"Oh my! What could that be?"

Out from behind the other racers, popped out a large, shadowy, muddy monster, that roared, scaring every one of them to pieces! The Ant Hill Mob held each other in fear, Blubber Bear hid himself and blubbered, and the Red Max and Peter fainted.

Rebecca laughed when she looked at her screaming friends.

"Oh my goodness! You should've seen your faces." Rebecca tried to control her laughter. "I really got you good!"

"I hate to admit this, but you sure did, Rebecca." Clyde managed a slight chuckle. "Guess this means you win the contest!"

"You took those words right out of my mouth Clyde." Pat agreed. "How did you manage to come up with such a scare?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Rebecca gave a cute little smirk as she pointed her flashlight to some of the forest creatures, including Fiona, covered in mud, and up to the birds, who made sounds into a device to create the monster's roars.

"You and those little critters sure did a good job scaring us!" Luke complimented Rebecca.

"And your little friends managed to scare even the Gruesome Twosome." Rufus laughed.

"It's a fact." Said Little Gruesome.

"Not too bad either." Agreed Big Gruesome.

"We also wanted to pull a good prank on our friends, and I did a good job pranking you if I do say so myself!" Rebecca smirked again.

"You sure did, Rebecca." Clyde nudged her arm in a friendly way.

"Well, I don't know about you but all this camping fun has me worn out." Luke yawned and stretched out.

"Me too, time to get some little ole shuteye." Penelope agreed, yawning herself.

"I'm looking forward to my first night sleeping under the stars this year." Rebecca grinned as she scooped up Fiona in her arms. "It sure will be cool, huh guys?"

The other racers, except for Penelope and Peter, agreed with Rebecca.

"Except, Penny and I." Peter admitted. "We're not so fond sleeping outside in tents."

"And besides, I prefer peace and quiet for my little ole eight hour beauty sleep." Penelope told everyone else. "And I mean it, fellas."

"That's okay." Rebecca didn't mind that. "Speaking of cabins, I'd better get in mine and get ready for bed."

Rebecca walked to her cabin to get herself ready for bed, as did the other racers who'd be sleeping outside in their tents. Sometime after that, she, wearing burgundy coat-style pajamas and her brown cowboy boots, knocked Penelope's cabin door. Penelope, who wore a long, pink bathrobe under a matching nightgown, stopped brushing her hair and answered the door.

"I wanted to say goodnight." Rebecca smiled. "I'm awful sorry I won't be rooming with you tonight, but, if you know me, I love sleeping outside in woods and campgrounds such as this."

"Oh, Rebecca sugar it's no big deal." Penelope reassured her. "Don't forget, we have the entire summer to spend girl time with each other."

"So very true." Rebecca replied. "I didn't think about that. Goodnight, Penelope."

"Goodnight, Rebecca."

After visiting Peter's cabin and saying goodnight to him, Rebecca, with Fiona on her leash, retreated to the other tents to bid the other racers goodnight before she and Fiona went to their tent for the night.

The next morning, the other racers woke up and discovered that Rebecca and Fiona were no longer in their tent. This worried them.

"Do you think they've been kidnapped?" Sergeant Blast wondered.

"Or maybe eaten by the Creature of Moon Lake!" Ring-a-Ding gulped.

"That was only a story, remember?" Clyde gave him a stern look.

"Oh yeah." Ring-a-Ding chuckled sheepishly.

"Raga-radda, we go find them." Rock told Gravel.

"Rah, hurry." Said Gravel.

"Thank you Slag Brothers, but that won't be necessary." Said a familiar voice.

The other racers turned their heads and were relieved to see Rebecca and Fiona, safe and sound, and carrying their own baskets of berries for breakfast.

"Oh, Rebecca!" Penelope cried. "Thanks heavens you're safe!"

"Where have you been?" Red Max asked.

"Fiona and I were just picking berries for our breakfast." Rebecca told her friends. "We got help from our forest friends to do so. I'll be making blueberry and blackberry pancakes. I'll get started on them right away now that we have what we need!"

At the same time, Dick and Muttley were awake themselves, and they were busy trying to create a new scheme for next week's race.

"Alright, Muttley, now that we've gotten some much needed sleep, it's time we get started on devising new sabotaging plans for our fellow racers." Dick announced. "But whatever shall we do, and how?"

"Perhaps I can help." Said a man with a French accent.

"That all depends." Dick replied to the voice. "Come in and allow me to get to know you."

In came a slim man with slicked-back brunette hair, and a magician's tuxedo.

"Hello, Mr. Dastardly." The man introduced himself and shook Dick and Muttley's hand. "My name is Jacques Sinister, world famous ex magician. I too, am interested in entering the Wacky Summer Races and winning the grand prize and title of the Summer's Wackiest Racer."

"You are, aren't you." Dick smirked. "Well just so you know, bud…"

He went from a smirk a furious, confronting scowl.

"There can only be one winner of the grand prize of the Wacky Summer Races and its title, and that's me, and only me! And Muttley of course!"

"Hey, hey, calm yourself my friend." Jacques replied nervously. "I'll make a deal with you. We'll split the prize and the title if that's possible."

"Okay, but on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You help me and Muttley with our plans to beat those wacky racers, and by beat them, I mean cheat to achieve that goal!"

"You've got yourself a deal." Jacques gave a wicked chuckle. "How do I sign up?"

"You'll have to see Bill Carnett at City Hall to sign up for the races." Dick explained. "I'm sure he'll let you in, I hope. If not, I'll make him want to! Just come with me and I'll make sure you're ready."

"Thank you, Mr. Dastardly!"

"It feels great to know that someone as evil as me is willing to help me reach my goal of beating those goodie-goods and winning the Wacky Races this summer!" Dick said before he, Muttley and Jacques laughed evilly.


	5. The Long Hot Miami Beach Bust

_Ladies and gentlemen, today marks the second round of the Wacky Summer Races, The Long Hot Miami Beach Bust! Here are our Wacky Racers speeding through the sweltering heat to the finish line in Miami Beach, Florida!_

As they raced, the racers felt hot and some of them were even sweating.

"So that's why they call it the Long _Hot_ Miami Beach Bust!" Rufus panted as Sawtooth dabbed his master's face with a damp cloth.

 _In first position, is Car Number Six the Army Surplus Special, followed by the Buzz Wagon in second, and the lovely Penelope Pitstop in third place, and she sure looks ready to hit the beach!_

Penelope was seen in her car wearing a cute pink and white polka-dot retro-style bikini, along with a white sunhat with a pink ribbon and flower, a white scarf, white and pink sandals and white retro style sunglasses, and she was applying sunscreen.

"Why, thank y'all sugar." Penelope smiled. "After all, this is the 'Long Hot' Miami Beach Bust, so I must look my best for the beach and keep from sweating."

 _In fourth place and scheming for a win are Dick Dastardly and Muttley._

"And this time, Muttley and I will have backup!" Dick chuckled evilly.

 _Dick sure makes his point. Following the mean machine is our newest racer, famous ex-magician Jacques Sinister in Car Number Twelve, the Black Magic!_

"And you'll never guess what dirty and magic tricks I'll have up my sleeve."

"Oh no! Jacques Sinister!?" Rebecca scowled while Fiona growled. "Who invited that sneak!?"

"Why Rebecca, my lovely. It's a pleasure to see you again, no?"

"You've got the no part right." Rebecca stuck up her nose as she sped away.

"I wonder what that was all about." Penelope thought as she saw Rebecca drive away from Jacques. "Surely Jacques Sinister can't be as bad as his little ole name suggests."

Jacques pulled over to Penelope.

"For the lovely lady." Jacques grinned as he pulled a bouquet of roses from his top hat and gave them to Penelope.

"Oh my! They're just beautiful!"

Suddenly, the roses hissed and tried to bite at Penelope, causing her to shriek with fright, and drop them.

Jacques laughed at his trick on Penelope as he drove back in the race and joined Dick and Muttley.

"That, Dick, is an example of the tricks that I have and will pull on all the racers." He told Dick.

"That was a rotten, and impressive of course, trick indeed." Dick chuckled. "I can't wait to try more! Let's get going!"

Muttley snickered and followed the two human crooks.

 _And the wacky beat goes on as Car Number Eleven the Forest Engine takes the lead, with the Slag Brothers in second, but Professor Pat Pending switches to Ballerina Leg Power to grand jete past them!_

Pat pulled the lever of his car, and out sprung legs with ballet Pointe shoes that leapt past the Slag Brothers and Rebecca. Instead of being mad that Pat passed her, she was impressed by what he just did.

"How neat!" Rebecca told him. "You must be a fan of ballet!"

"I was never a ballet dancer, my child." Pat explained to Rebecca. "But I watched the New York City Ballet Company years back, and I paid close attention as they danced and studied every move so I could get an idea for my car."

"I took ballet lessons in my youth, and seeing the New York City ballet company is a dream of mine!"

 _Right behind is the Black Magic and the Mean Machine, and from the looks of it, they've got something diabolical planned!_

"You bet we do!" Dick snickered. "Okay, Jacques! Show me what you've got!"

"Will do, Dick!" Jacques grinned. "With a wave of my magic wand, I shall turn this sandy part of Miami Beach, into quicksand! Alakazam, alaka-quicksand! "

Jacques waved his magic magician's wand over the sand, and as the other racers kept speeding, they found themselves stuck and sinking slowly in the sand.

"Oh my goodness." Peter gasped. "What's happened to the sand?"

"Can't you see?" Luke worried. "We're sinking!"

Blubber Bear blubbered in fright.

"Normally beach sand isn't like this." Sergeant Blast frowned. "It must be one of Dick Dastardly's dirty tricks!"

"I think you're right, Serge." Private Meekly looked up at him.

"Rah, help! Help! Help!" Cried the Slag Brothers

"Don't just stand there talking, everyone." Little Gruesome told the others.

"Yes, the sooner we think of something, the better." Big Gruesome finished.

"Say, Red Max." Clyde turned to Red Max. "Think you can fly yourself out of this sand?"

"I'll give it a try."

From there, Red Max's Crimson Haybaler lifted up away from the sand and in the air ahead of the racers.

"What do you know? He made it out!" Rebecca smiled. "Okay, Pat, let's fly out of here and we'll help everyone else out of this quicksand and back in the race!"

"With pleasure, my dear."

Pat shifted into helicopter mode, flew up in the sky and sprouted out a claw similar to a claw machine in an arcade. Rebecca once again shifted into Eagle Power, and after eagle wings flapped and brought her up in the air, out from below the Forest Engine sprouted eagle claws. Together, Pat and Rebecca used their cars' claws to lift the other racers' cars out of the quicksand and ahead of it.

After rescuing the other racers, Pat and Rebecca joined the other racers back in the race.

 _Thanks to Pat Pending's inventions and Rebecca's talent with nature, the racers are no longer stuck in sand!_

"Drat, drat, double drat, and triple drat!" Dick growled when he looked back and saw the other racers. "How did they… Who gives a hoot? We've got to create another plan to stop them!"

 _Now that the other racers are back on track, it's Penelope Pitstop taking over first place._

"Too bad I burn easily in the sun, because I really want some little ole Miami Beach bunny color." Penelope thought to herself. "Time for a good little ole spray tan to achieve that!"

Penelope pulled the lever of her Compact Pussycat, and out came airbrushes that sprayed a self-tanner all over Penelope's body. Once the spray tanning process was over, Penelope opened her eyes and was satisfied when she looked at her newly tanned skin.

"Not too light, not too dark, just perfect!" She smiled.

 _Close behind in second place is the Arkansas Chuggabug, and in third is Peter Perfect!_

"We need to speed up if we're ever gonna make it!" Luke told Blubber. "Blubber, fill the ole gal up!"

Blubber filled the Arkansas Chuggabug's stove with coal, which then let out steam as it passed Penelope and made Peter feel hot.

"As if this weather wasn't hot enough already." Peter muttered in a polite, but annoyed tone as he patted his sweating face with a damp cloth.

"Not to worry, Peter!" Rebecca called out. "I'll cool you and everyone else off with a good old rain shower!"

Rebecca pulled her car's lever and out sprouted a large rain cloud that poured out rain, helping cool everyone else off. Everyone was happy by Rebecca's good deeds, except for Dick, Muttley and Jacques.

"Hey! Knock off with the water works, missy!" A drenched Dick shouted.

"But aren't you hot?" Rebecca called back. "Even bad guys need to be treated good in conditions like this!"

"Oh, you're so right, sweetheart." Jacques sneered.

"Abracadabra, Alaka-zont! Bring the Black Magic and the Mean Machine out in front!" He said as he waved his magician's wand around the Black Magic and the Mean Machine and pulled the lever of the Black Magic that released a lavender smoke ring around the villains' cars, causing both villains' cars to disappear and reappear in the very front, with Dick and Muttley in first and Jacques in second.

"Hey! You can't do that!" Rufus scowled.

"How rotten to the core can those men be?" Penelope pouted.

"Not to worry, everyone." Rebecca reassured them. "I'm not letting those creeps, especially Jacques Sinister get away with this! I'll teach them a lesson!"

As she drove, she once again pulled the Forest Engine's switch and released another cloud over the Mean Machine and the Black Magic. This cloud, however, released a snowstorm that froze the villains and their cars in blocks of ice.

 _Oh, what a shame for Jacques and Dick. Frozen in a hot state! I wonder how that must feel._

"W-w-why you l-l-little s-s-snow s-s-sneak!" Dick shivered.

"On the bright side, at least they'll cool off!" Laughed Clyde as he and his boys poured on the gas.

"Unlike the rest of us." Red Max panted.

 _I know you're all hot and sweaty from this Miami weather, but don't let it stop you Wacky Racers, because you're almost at the finish line!_

At this point, the Arkansas Chuggabug, the Creepy Coupe, and the Bulletproof Bomb were competing for a spot in first place.

 _Almost there, and everyone's fighting for the prize!_

The Ant Hill Mob was the first to cross the finish line.

 _And the winner is the Ant Hill Mob in the Bulletproof Bomb! With the Arkansas Chuggabug in second, and the Creepy Coupe in third!_

 _Dick Dastardly, Muttley and their new partner in crime on the other hand, are no longer frozen solid thanks to the hot weather, but still lost._

"I don't know what's more humiliating…" Dick grimaced and shivered. "Getting frozen in a block of ice at Miami Beach, or the fact that we worked hard to stop those racers, but still didn't make it!"

"Not to worry Dick." Jacques replied. "Next week's another week. We'll get even with those goodie two-shoes racers…"

He then showed a glare of vengeance.

"Especially you, Rebecca Romaine, and that fox of yours. You'll get what's coming to you…"

Back at the finish line, the other racers congratulated the Ant Hill Mob, Luke and Blubber, and the Gruesomes for how they placed.

"You guys did a really great job." Rebecca told the first, second and third place winners.

"Thanks, Rebecca." Luke replied as he hugged her. "Second place ain't so bad. Unless you're Dick Dastardly that is."

"Right!" Rebecca giggled.

"But I'm awful sorry you didn't place." Luke almost felt bad that she didn't win first, second, or third in this week's race.

"It's not a big deal, really, Luke. You win some, you lose some. I really don't care about winning. Everyone did a great job in the race!"

"Thanks Rebecca!" The other racers said in unison.

"I sure am looking forward to the 4th of July, which is next week's race!" Rebecca gave an excited grin. "Won't that be great to have it on the 4th of July?"

"It'll be great all right." Clyde replied. "But it'll be even greater to get out of this hot air."

"I agree, boss." Ring-a-Ding wiped his brow. "I can't take it anymore."

The other racers, with the exception of Penelope, complained about the how hot they felt.

"Don't y'all forget sugars, that I promised everyone that there'd be a little ole pool party at my Miami Beach home!" Penelope assured them.

The racers were no doubt happy to hear about that.

"At least you were smart enough to dress for the weather." Rebecca commented on Penelope's beachwear. "I can't believe I didn't think of that!"

"Why Rebecca, would y'all be interested in a little ole sleepover in my bedroom tonight." Penelope asked Rebecca.

"Oh Penelope, I'd be more than interested! Good thing I packed for that, too!"

"Glad to hear it! Now let's get going! My pool and hot tub are always open!"

Upon hearing about the pool party at Penelope's house, Muttley got excited and begged Dick to let him go.

"Alright Muttley, alright." Dick reluctantly promised. "I'll let you go to that pool party, but Jacques and I will be busy planning our schemes to win next week's race."

Muttley kissed Dick's hand and sped off with excitement.

"How do you put up with that mutt, Dick?" Jacques questioned Dick.

"Practice, Jacques." Dick mumbled. "Lots of practice."


	6. Pool and Slumber Party Hilarity

_Tonight, to top off another successful race, the racers are having a special pool party at Penelope Pitstop's home in Miami Beach._

After the race, the Wacky Racers, except for, of course, Dick and Jacques were now seen outback at Penelope's Miami Beach house in bathing suits hanging by the pool. The Ant Hill Mob was floating in inner tubes in the pool, and Penelope and Rebecca, who was wearing a forest green one-piece ruffled swimsuit, were soaking in Penelope's hot tub, and Peter, who had on dark blue swim trunks, sat on the edge of the hot tub chatting with the girls. Fiona sat by the hot tub and looked at Rebecca as she chatted with her friends.

"Your house is amazing, Penelope!" Rebecca was impressed by how beautiful Penelope's house looked. It was huge and spacious and she loved the fact that it was at Miami Beach. "I wish I lived here. Maybe we could be roommates?"

"That would be fun." Penelope giggled. "But I don't live here. This is truly my vacation home."

"Is it now?"

"Uh-huh."

This left the other racers curious.

"Your vacation home, huh?" Rufus wondered.

"How often do you stay here?" Red Max asked.

"Well, I can't stand the snow after Christmas, so once a year after Christmas has passed, I fly to Miami and stay at this beach house until I'm certain that the little ole snow is gone." Penelope explained. "I also like to come here occasionally during the summer, especially on occasions such as this."

"Don't you have anyone, like a neighbor, to care for the house while you're away?" Pat asked Penelope.

"As a matter of fact, I have servants at the house and they tend to the place when I leave." Penelope replied as she got out of the hot tub and dried off, Peter behind her. "Especially my trusty little ole butler. Speaking of whom."

She grabbed a little hand bell and started ringing it.

"Anderson!" She called out. "Yoo-hoo, Anderson!"

Out came a middle aged British man in a tuxedo named Anderson.

"How may I help you, Miss Penelope?" Anderson asked Penelope.

"I'd like some more iced tea, with extra ice, please." Penelope sweetly requested as she handed Anderson her glass.

"Yes m'am." Anderson nodded as he took her glass and went inside.

Muttley, wearing orange swim trunks, showed up unexpectedly.

"Why Muttley, I didn't think you'd make it here, but it's great to see y'all sugar." Penelope greeted him. "But what a shame that Dick's not here."

"I'm just glad Jacques didn't show up." Rebecca scoffed at the very thought of Jacques.

"Rannonrall!" Muttley shouted as he jumped in the pool and splashed the other racers and almost caused the Ant Hill Mob to flip over.

"Hey watch it, will you Muttley?" Red Max frowned.

"Yeah!" Ring-a-Ding complained.

"We almost fell overboard!" Clyde muttered.

Muttley snickered as he continued to swim and have his fun.

"At least Muttley's having a good time." Penelope grinned as she sat on the edge of the pool and dipped her feet in it while Peter, from behind her, gave her a back rub.

"So am I." Rebecca replied as she dipped her feet in as well, holding onto a coral drink while giving Fiona a scratch behind her ears. "What a great way to celebrate the end of a hot race, isn't it, guys?"

The other racers agreed.

"That Miami weather sure gets toasty." Luke told Rebecca. "If it wasn't for you and your rain shower, well, I don't know what would've happened. You oughta be related to Mother Nature!"

Rebecca blushed and chuckled at Luke's cute comment.

"I for one, would've sweated all day." Said Peter as he kept rubbing Penelope's back and shoulders. "I can't stand being sweaty."

"I think we all can't stand it, Peter." Rebecca replied.

"Hence why we've got little ole Rebecca and her Forest Engine on board." Penelope giggled as Anderson returned to give her the ice tea she requested.

"Oh, please." Rebecca turned red and bashful.

A sudden jingling noise caused Penelope to turn her head and grin.

"Oh my! Look who's up and refreshed after a little ole beauty nap." Penelope's dog, a medium sized Golden Retriever/Cocker Spaniel mix that had on a fuchsia collar with a diamond heart dog tag, plus a dress and bows in her ears that matched the color of her collar was walking out of the house to see her owner. "Little ole Angel! Come here, girl!"

Angel came over to Penelope and gave her a quick kiss before she made herself comfortable and Penelope pet her.

"Nice to see you again, Angel." Peter reached out his hand to give a gentle scratch behind Angel's ears.

The minute Angel caught his eyes, Muttley quickly fell in love and left the pool to meet Angel.

"Rello ry rear." Muttley flirted with Angel, taking her paw and kissing it. "You a vrery beautiful rooking rady. Ret re rive you ry hreart, drarling."

Angel swiped her paw out of Muttley's paw, bit him in the nose and stuck her nose in the air with a humph as she walked away from him, leaving poor Muttley down, rejected, and with bite marks on his nose.

"Tough luck, Muttley." Peter struggled to control a chuckle. "Seems like you're not Angel's type. Besides, she's already in love with my black Labrador, Duke."

"Muttley, you'll find your gal someday, but it's just not Angel." Penelope assured him.

Feeling embarrassed, Muttley scrambled off to leave Penelope's house.

"Poor Muttley." Penelope sighed as Angel curled up beside her. "I thought it was fun having him here."

The other racers couldn't help but agree with Penelope, despite the trouble Muttley usually caused them.

Elsewhere, Dick and Jacques were discussing their plans to win next week's race, when they saw Muttley walking through the door feeling embarrassed and sad. Dick became slightly worried when he saw the marks on his dog's nose.

"Muttley, how did..." He wondered as he looked at the marks.

Muttley whimpered and sighed.

"I get it, Penelope's lady dog thought you were out of her league. Don't worry Muttley, that's her loss!"

"Rassuh-frazza-pazza girls, bah!" Muttley mumbled.

"As soon as you move on, come back and help me and Jacques get planning next week's win." Dick ordered. "I know it's a week away, but it takes great planning to cheat and sabotage other racers, you know."

That night, back at Penelope's house in Miami, Penelope, who wore her pink bathrobe under her matching knee-length nightgown with ruffled edges, was giving Rebecca, who wore a white tank top and forest green sleep shorts, a pedicure. Both the girls had their hair all up in little hair rollers.

"Penelope, you give the best pedicures." Rebecca told Penelope as she lifted her feet out of the foot tub and allowed Penelope to dry them. "I am terrible at doing my own toenails. And not only is your room beautiful and adorable, but it's got the perfect amount of things for this sleepover! You just have an amazing sense of style! I'm glad to have you one of my new friends."

"Oh, thank y'all Rebecca." Penelope giggled as she placed toe separators in between Rebecca's toes and started polishing her toenails. "It feels wonderful having another girl in this race. Someone I can do girl stuff with!"

"All the boys, minus Dick Dastardly obviously, are just so good to you, especially Peter Perfect. You two look so happy together."

"He's such a little ole gentleman, indeed, and he loves me very dearly, just as much as I grew to love him."

"He's such a sweetheart, and he's so kind to you. You're real fortunate you're in a relationship with a boy like Peter who treats you with great respect."

Rebecca then let out a sigh.

"I wish I had that…"

"I see y'all have a certain history with that Jacques Sinister?" Penelope was curious to know why Rebecca hated Jacques so much.

As reluctant as she was at first, Rebecca took a breath and began to tell her story.

"I do indeed. It all started two summers back, in his days as a magician. I met him at an audition for a community talent show in my home state." Rebecca explained. "He was performing magic tricks, and I did a variety show with my forest animal friends. I was so intrigued by his magic, and him by my talent with animals, that it became love at first sight."

"A few months after the talent show we began dating. He was such a gentleman and a dear to me, he was so sophisticated and romantic and I felt as though my heart was in the right place. A year later, he asked me to marry him. I was so excited and accepted his proposal. We had an amazing time planning our wedding and our future, but then, flash forward to spring, before the Wacky Summer Races, my father fell very sick, and the doctor said he needs a pricy surgery to help him heal and live. Having the money wasn't much of a problem, as my mom works in a successful business that's also helping us. After we first started raising funds for my dad's surgery, Jacques' true nature shone through, he was a greedy, selfish con man who cheated my mom and dad out of the funds and tried to steal them."

She started tearing up a bit.

"Upon learning of this, I didn't have a choice, I was so angry at Jacques for his awful deeds and I insisted that that he end the engagement, but he refused, because he wanted to live a rich, lavish life, and saw me and the funds as the key to it, but I forced the engagement ring off my finger and ran off telling him it was all over anyway. When I entered the Summer Races, I didn't expect him to come back and enter ir too, but I believe he's doing it for revenge. We can't let him win, we just can't."

Penelope patted Rebecca's shoulder in sympathy and Fiona nuzzled her.

"Don't worry, Rebecca." She comforted her. "We, as your friends, will never let him win. You'll have us on board, sugar."

"Thanks Penelope." She whispered. "You're great friends."

She then looked in a mirror and was not pleased with her reflection.

"I'd really better stop stressing so much." She said as she touched her face. "It's making my face break out bad."

"My little ole skin's breaking out, too." Penelope complained. "And it feels so oily from this summer heat. Don't y'all just hate that?"

"How can anyone not?"

"I know just the thing for that, and something to pass the time while our little ole pedicures dry. Follow me."

Penelope and Rebecca were now seen in Penelope's bathroom standing in front of the bathroom sink and mirror.

"Now that our faces have been cleansed, exfoliated and steamed, it's time for the fun part." Penelope smiled as she squeezed a facial mask container and smeared the mint green clay mask all over her face (while not getting it on her lips and eyes) and the front of her neck and Rebecca smeared the clay mask all over her face and the front of her neck too.

"This stuff smells amazing." Rebecca told Penelope as she applied the mask with her fingertips. "I can already feel it working its magic."

"Glad you like that face mask, Rebecca. It helps draw out and eliminate oils and blemishes of all kinds, and it feels so calming, too. Four out of five dermatologists recommend this clay mask! It does great wonders."

"I wonder who the fifth dermatologist was." Rebecca joked as she followed Penelope out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom.

"Probably some little ole Doubting Thomas." Penelope laughed as she and Rebecca lounged on her bed and she placed cucumber slices over Rebecca's eyes and over her eyes.

"Now just lie back, relax and allow this special clay mask to do its job for the next little ole half hour."

"What I think we need is a masseuse to give us soothing hand, foot and shoulder rubs during that half hour. Maybe one of your servants can do that?"

Penelope's cat, Snowflake, a white domestic long-hair with a pink rhinestone collar and a ponytail held by a pink bow, walked over with a meow and started massaging Rebecca's shoulders.

"Or, we could rely on your cat to do that." Rebecca giggled.

While Penelope and Rebecca relaxed on the bed with their facials and Snowflake massaged Rebecca's shoulders, curious Fiona looked around and saw Penelope's white and light brown mini lop rabbit with pink bows in her ears named Rosie, sleeping in her bed. Fiona nudged the sleeping bunny awake and Rosie, once she saw Fiona, she shrieked and hopped away. But Fiona only wanted to play and chased after Rosie to get her to play with her, but they just ended up making a mess in Penelope's room.

"Oh dear!" Penelope cried as she and Rebecca rose up and the cucumbers fell from their eyes when they heard the chaos. "Rosie!"

"Fiona! Leave her alone!"

The boys, as well as the servants, heard the noises going on in Penelope's room and got worried.

"Rebecca and Penelope are in there!" Luke worried. "I hope they're not hurt."

"I'll go check on them and see what's wrong." Anderson said as he went upstairs.

"So will I." Peter followed Anderson up.

Once Anderson and Peter reached Penelope's bedroom door, Peter opened the door, only to have Rosie leap onto his face and knock him down.

"Penelope's rabbit!"

Before Peter could get up, Penelope ran out of her bedroom to collect her rabbit and scooped her in her arms before retreating back to her room. Rebecca managed to grab Fiona's collar to stop her.

"Don't scare me like that again, Fiona."

"Steady, Rosie bunny." She whispered to her rabbit to calm her.

But Rosie gave Fiona a mean glare.

"Fiona didn't mean to scare you. She's not going to hurt you." Penelope told Rosie quietly as she placed her back in her pink straw bed and stroked her fur.

"Miss Rebecca, are you alright?" Anderson asked Rebecca.

"Yeah, except we've got a lot of cleaning to do."

"Penny! What was that all about?" Peter asked Penelope. The minute Peter saw her in her hair curlers and clay mask, she gasped and shrieked with humiliation and turned away.

"Are you alright, my dear?"

"No." Penelope's face turned bright red under her green clay mask. "Oh Peter, I never wanted y'all to see me looking like this! Ever!"

"Don't worry Penny." Peter smiled as he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I think you still look beautiful. You're not hurt are you?"

"No, I'm fine."

"What happened anyway, girls?"

"My fox saw Penelope's bunny, and bunnies and foxes are not the best of friends." Rebecca explained. "So Rosie got scared when Fiona tried to make friends with her, and she made quite a mess when she tried to hop to safety."

"Aside from that, we're all good." Penelope assured Peter. "But my poor little ole room!"

"Anderson and I will be more than happy to help you girls." Peter smiled as he and Anderson got to work.

"Thanks Peter, you're a little ole dear!" Penelope hugged him before she and Rebecca also started cleaning.

It did not take Penelope, Rebecca, Peter and Anderson very long to clean Penelope's room. Penelope stepped back and smiled at the sight of her now spick and span bedroom.

"It looks amazing again, and it looks as if there wasn't even a fox and rabbit chase in there. Thank y'all for your help."

"We're glad we could help, Penny." Peter gave a sweet grin as he turned to leave. "Goodnight, ladies. I'll see you in the morning."

"Bye, Peter!" Penelope blew him a loving kiss. "See y'all in the morning, too!"

"Is there anything you ladies need?" Anderson asked Rebecca and Penelope.

"No thank you Anderson." Penelope answered. "We're good. Thank you again."

"In that case, goodnight ladies." Anderson told the girls before leaving to go to bed.

Penelope and Rebecca walked back to the bedroom, laughing.

"I must admit, that was pretty funny." Rebecca told Penelope. "Of all the sleepovers I had and went to, this one is my most favorite!"

"This one's my favorite, too!" Penelope gave a laugh as she looked back at the moment. "Thank you Rebecca for a great time."

"It's not over yet! We've got the whole night to have our fun!"


	7. The 4th of July 500

_Happy 4_ _th_ _of July race fans! Today our Wacky Racers are speeding to the finish line in Washington D.C. in the third race of the Wacky Summer Races, 4_ _th_ _of July 500!_

 _In the lead is Car Number Two the Creepy Coupe, with Miss Rebecca Romaine and Fiona Fox in second, and the Red Max in third, and he sure looks determined to take the lead!_

Red Max pulled the lever of his car-plane hybrid and ascended into the sky, passing the Forest Engine and the Creepy Coupe, until the engine died and he came crashing to the ground.

"Oh my gosh! Red Max!" Rebecca gasped as she and the Gruesome Twosome stopped their cars after Red Max's fall.

"I'm okay!" Red Max said, seeing stars.

 _Meanwhile Dick Dastardly and Muttley, plus Jacques Sinister, are hatching up something diabolical. I can't help but wonder._

"Oh we've got plenty of diabolical schemes to hatch up." Dick grinned with an evil chuckle. "And they're also quite exciting!"

Muttley snickered and followed Dick and Jacques to the race, where they started planning their schemes for the race.

 _Dick certainly wasn't kidding. Leading the way is the Slag Brothers, but the terrible trio of troublemakers are after them, planning something._

"Since when did it become your business?" Dick frowned before turning to Jacques.

"Alright, pal. Time to put those hairball cavemen in a block of ice, where they belong. Allow me and we'll work together to take care of the rest of the racers."

Dick pulled the lever of the Mean Machine, and out blew an icy snowstorm that froze Rock and Gravel in a huge chunk of ice.

"Brr! Cold! Cold! Cold!" Both Slag Brothers shivered in the block of ice.

"Your vehicle can release snowstorms, too!" Rebecca showed a look of displeasure. "That's my car's abilities, Buster!"

"So sue me, please go right ahead and sue me." Dick taunted Rebecca as he sped off.

"Oh I'll do more than that!"

Jacques sped past Rebecca, making her angrier.

"The same goes for you, too, Jacques."

"I can't stand the way that man treats you." Luke told Rebecca as he followed her. "No one, especially someone as sweet and pretty as you deserves that. And I think you're sweet and pretty!"

Rebecca had a crush on Luke herself, and she was too in love to speak, but him seeing her and reassuring her made her happy.

"First place is all ours!" Dick cheered.

But suddenly, The Mean Machine slid and crashed into a ditch, the Black Magic crashing behind them.

"You know you spoke too soon, right, Dick?" Jacques told him.

"Oh shut up."

Muttley just snickered at Dick and Jacques.

"You need to shut up more!" Dick scolded Muttley as he bopped him on the head.

"Rassuh-frazzapazza snacken fracken bracken." Muttley muttered as he rubbed his sore head.

 _Back in the race, the Arkansas Chuggabug is in first place, with Peter Perfect and the Slag Brothers following. Say Rock, Gravel, how did you manage to unfreeze yourselves?_

"Rah, summer sun melt ice." Rock answered.

"And put us back in race." Gravel finished.

When Rock saw the back of Peter's Turbo Terrific, he whispered something in Gravel's ear.

"Raga-radda, will do." Gravel nodded before he placed his club in one of the Turbo Terrific's back engines, causing it to fill up.

 _Uh oh! The Slag Brothers have done it this time! The Turbo Terrific is about to…_

The Turbo Terrific burst into bits and pieces on poor Peter.

 _Blow…_

"Oh fiddlesticks!" Peter frowned as some of the other cars passed him. "Now that was just plain rude!"

 _Meanwhile, the Crimson Haybaler is in the lead, followed by the Bulletproof Bomb in second, and the Buzz Wagon in third. But around the corner is Dick Dastardly, Muttley and Jacques Sinister. What have they got in store for our racers now?_

"You're about to find out!" Dick gave an evil laugh. "You know what to do, Jacques, and do not, I repeat, DO NOT hit us with your spell!"

"Take it easy, Dick. I know what I'm doing." Jacques replied as he took out his magician wand.

"Wand of Black Magic, put those racers in a trance! Make them sleep and destroy their chance!" He chanted with a wave of his wand, and pulled the lever of his car that released a lavender smoke screen that surrounded the racers and disappeared.

The other racers were speeding along the road when they came to a stop.

"Oh my, I can't keep driving." Rebecca yawned. "I feel so sleepy."

"So do I." Red Max felt his eyelids fall.

"Did I not get enough beauty sleep last night?" Penelope tried to lie down in a comfortable sleeping position in her car. "I'd better make up for that."

"I knew I should've had some coffee this morning." Peter tried to do the same in his car.

"You know, four long months of hibernation wouldn't be so bad, eh Blubber?" Luke closed his eyes and relaxed into a sleep.

Blubber yawned in reply to what his master said.

"Don't start falling asleep now, Meekly." Sergeant Blast told Private Meekly. "We have a race to win."

But he felt sleepy himself.

"Then again, we could use a bit of rest."

"Come on you mugs, stay awake!" Clyde told his boys. "We need to keep going if we're ever gonna win that race."

But he yawned.

"But I guess that can wait til we've had ourselves some shuteye."

"Sleep is good for the brain and memory, and that's just what I need." Pat turned the Convert-a-Cart into a bed and got himself comfortable.

"We can't sleep when there's a race... but I could use it right now." Rufus tried to keep his eyes open, to no avail.

The Slag Brothers were snoring as they slept back-to-back, the same went for the Gruesome Twosome.

All the racers were now fast asleep in their cars.

 _Oh no! All the Wacky Racers have fallen asleep behind the wheel, leaving Dick Dastardly and Jacques Sinister to take over first and second place!_

"Victory will soon be ours!" Dick cheered with a triumphant, evil laugh. "Nothing can stop us now!"

 _I have a bad feeling you might be right, Dastardly. But what's this? A rain shower?_

All of a sudden, it started raining, and the rain poured on the racers, slowly waking them up from their deep sleep.

 _How is this possible? The forecast didn't call for rain, but it's waking everyone up!_

"Is it really raining, or am I just dreaming?" Penelope's eyes were starting to open. "It really is raining! I'm glad it woke me up but it's messing up my little ole hairdo!"

"The rain couldn't possibly help." Rufus started to open his eyes wide as Sawtooth shook himself dry. "But it is helping!"

"Yeah!" Rebecca, wide awake, smiled while Fiona shook herself dry, too. "And I didn't even do anything!"

"I bet it was sheer luck." Peter rubbed his eyes. "Now we must get back to racing now that everyone's awake."

"Right." Said the other racers.

 _And so everyone else is wide awake again and back in the race!_

"Curses!" Dick growled as he saw the racers speed back on the track. "They're awake again! Jacques, how much sleeping potion did you use in your car?"

"I used as much as I could." Jacques replied in an intimidated voice.

"You idiot!" Dick shouted as he grabbed Jacques' shoulders and violently shook him. "You didn't use enough sleeping potion! And to think you were so brilliant!"

 _Back in the race, it's Professor Pat Pending in first place, plus Penelope Pitstop in second, and Rebecca Romaine and Fiona Fox in third, giving the two plenty of girl time._

Penelope's Compact Pussycat and Rebecca's Forest Engine were decorated in 4th of July ribbons.

 _Say, you ladies sure have 4_ _th_ _of July spirit!_

"I have every single holiday spirit!" Rebecca winked.

"And I think these little ole 4th of July decorations are adorable!" Penelope smiled.

 _But creeping along the girls is…_

"Well it isn't George Washington." Dick sneered. "Okay, Jacques, pour on the gas!"

"Right!"

Both the Mean Machine and the Black Magic sped ahead of the girls and the Professor, leaving behind a puff of smoke that made all four of them cough.

"Oh, those little ole pigs!" Penelope scowled. "They almost ruined my All-American décor!"

"Mine too!" Rebecca placed her hands on her hips. "And they did much more than that!"

Fiona gave a little growl.

"Now don't get too upset, ladies." Pat reassured the girls. "I'll make sure they don't win by leap-frogging ahead of them."

Pat pulled his lever so he could turn the Convert-a-Car into Leap-Frog power, but unfortunately, the Convert-a-Car kept turning into a variety of different vehicles.

"Oh my gosh." Pat gave a look of concern as the Convert-a-Car kept shifting into different vehicles nonstop. "What's going on? This has never happened to me before!"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Jacques laughed.

"I should've known." Pat glared at the villains while he tried to fix his car, only to find himself unable to.

"How can I fix this? I can't stop!" Pat really started to get worried. "Help! Help!"

"Hang in there, Professor!" Rebecca called out to him. "I'll help you and make Dick and Jacques pay for their bad deeds."

Rebecca pulled the lever of the Forest Engine, but it broke off.

"Oh no!" Rebecca cried as she stopped her car and held the broken lever. "My lever was working fine today. How could this have happened?"

"Oh, you know…" Dick laughed himself as he held a wrench.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to forfeit the race." She sighed .

 _Dick Dastardly and Jacques Sinister have gone too far this time._

"There's no such thing as going too far." Dick smirked as he and Jacques sped off.

 _Well there is if you leave one racer unable to control his shape-shifting malfunctioning car, and the other unable to race due to a broken engine._

"Oh, if I only knew how to stop this crazy car from shape-shifting." Pat thought.

"Oh Rebecca, sugar, don't get upset." Penelope tried to console her friend. "Surely your car can still work without the lever."

"Actually, that's not exactly how I programmed it." Rebecca replied. "But I can try."

Rebecca hopped back in the Forest Engine and tried to start it, but it wouldn't start, frustrating her.

"Oh what more could possibly go wrong?"

The other male racers, with Luke and Peter in the lead, stopped to see what happened.

"Girls, what's going on?" Peter ran up to them.

"Why aren't any of you racing?" Luke asked the girls.

"Dick Dastardly and Jacques are the reason we're not racing!" Rebecca replied. "They broke the lever of my car, which is the only way my car can run. Oh what'll I do, Luke?"

She felt a tear fall from her eye.

"Don't you fret none, Rebecca." Luke held her close. "We'll help you out."

"Luke's right, Rebecca." Peter told her. "You, my dear, happen to be looking at a skilled mechanic. I'll have the Forest Engine back in shape right away."

"And that's not all." Penelope told the other boys. "Look at poor Professor Pending. He can't stop his car from changing nonstop!"

"Help!" Pat cried out from his nonstop shape-shifting car.

"Now how could that have happened?" Luke wondered.

"Jacques Sinister used his, well, black magic on my car." Pat explained.

"Are you sure it's not a jam in your lever, Professor?" Peter asked him.

"I can check." Pat tried to pull his lever to make his car stop changing into different vehicles, only to have it work after a few times.

"What do you know?" Pat smiled. "My car's not shifting nonstop anymore!"

"And my car's been fixed! All thanks to Peter!" Rebecca smiled as she looked at her newly repaired car.

"Oh it was nothing, Rebecca." Peter sheepishly replied.

"My car would've been nothing if it wasn't for you!" Rebecca praised him. "I'd love to give you a warm hug and kiss, but I'll leave that to Penelope."

Penelope blushed a bit and giggled.

"Now let's get going, everyone!"

"Yeah!" Shouted the other racers as they took off, but Luke and Rebecca stayed to chat a bit.

"Hey Luke, are you…busy tonight?" Rebecca was a bit shy at first.

"Just attending the fireworks show with everyone else." Luke answered. "After I drop off Blubber that is. He hates fireworks, you know."

"So does Fiona." Rebecca giggled, before getting back to the subject. "Good, because I was wondering…"

"Wondering what, Rebecca?"

"If…You'd like…to watch the…the fireworks…with me? Would you like to watch the fireworks with me, Luke?"

"Would I?" Luke got excited. "Oh Rebecca I would absolutely love to!"

"Good!" Rebecca was so happy to spend time with Luke. "We'll talk more about it as soon as the race is over and we're at the block party!"

 _Just several more miles before the racers hit Washington D.C., and it's anybody's race, but what's this? Our three unpatriotic racers are using a giant patriotic firecracker to get them to the finish line._

"Exactly!" Dick smirked as he lit a match. "In a few moments, we'll be blazing our way to D.C., and we'll win this time! Now hold on tight!"

Dick, Muttley, and Jacques held on tight as the firecracker sent them speeding into first place.

 _Incredible! That giant 4_ _th_ _of July firecracker just sent the villains into first place! Sadly, they just might make it after all._

"This is it! I can smell victory already!" Dick laughed triumphantly. "We just might make it after all!"

Unfortunately for Dick, Muttley, and Jacques, the firecracker ended up crashing into a tree, and the firecracker exploded, causing the tree and the now char-covered villains falling.

 _Oh what a shame, you once again spoke too soon, Dick._

"I am so sick of hearing that line!" Dick shouted in anger and annoyance.

 _Meanwhile we're almost at the finish line, and the winner is…_

The Army Surplus Special was the first to cross.

 _Car Number Six, the Army Surplus Special driven by Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly! Followed by the Turbo Terrific driven by Peter Perfect in second, and the Forest Engine driven by Rebecca Romaine and Fiona Fox in third place!_

 _And as for Dick, Muttley and Jacques…_

Far behind, Dick, Muttley and Jacques were wiping the char and the splinters of the tree off in frustration.

"Okay, boys. So it wasn't our day." Dick told Muttley and Jacques. "But next week, and the next weeks following that, we'll make sure we have our days to be champions for real!"


	8. A Wacky 4th of July

_Tonight, to celebrate both another successful, exciting race and the 4th of July, our Wacky Racers are attending the 4_ _th_ _of July block party, followed by the block party's annual fireworks show in Washington D.C.!_

That evening after the race to DC, the racers were now at the 4th of July block party in the city's park enjoying the party and holiday festivities.

"I do declare!" Penelope took a breath. "I never dreamed we'd be spending the 4th of July in good ole Washington D.C.!"

"It's a great way to support our country!" Private Meekly said.

"You said it, Meekly." Sergeant Blast agreed.

"It's pretty cool to see how the Wacky Racers celebrate the 4th of July." Rebecca nodded her head. "It kinda makes me wonder how you celebrate other holidays, especially Christmas."

"Christmas is always the best celebration for us." Said Clyde.

"Every year we hold Christmas Eve parties with ugly sweater contests, good food, lots of carols and Secret Santas." Peter concluded.

"Neat!" Rebecca smiled. "I'd better remember to mark my calendar."

"Hey, look everyone!" Said one male partygoer. "It's the Wacky Racers!"

This attracted a crowd of other partygoers, all of whom were also fans of the Wacky Races. The fans gathered around the racers in excitement. In spite of the excitement, the racers knew to keep calm and greet their ecstatic fans with smiles.

"Peter Perfect, you're even dreamier in person!" One fangirl cried.

"Oh, please." Peter blushed and chuckled a bit.

"May I have your autograph, Red Max?" Asked a fanboy.

"With pleasure." The Red Max replied as he took the boy's pen and notebook.

"May I have your autograph, Penelope?" Asked a fangirl.

"Why certainly, sugar." Penelope grinned as she did the same to the fangirl.

"Gruesomes, I want your car!" Shouted one fanboy. "It's the best car in the races!"

"No, Rebecca's Forest Engine is!" Another fanboy called out.

"The Buzzwagon is cooler!" Another fanboy said.

"No, the Convert-a-Car is the best of them all!" A fangirl cried out.

"Now, now Wacky Race fans and block partygoers, calm yourselves." Pat calmed the crowd. "Let's not start a debate here."

"Each Wacky Racer is equally amazing and cool, and it's all thanks to wonderful fans like you!" Rufus told the crowd.

"Unga bunga yeah!" Said Rock.

The crowd started to cheer for the racers once more.

Unknown to the racers and the crowd of fans, Muttley was arriving to the block party to find his fellow racers. He struggled to find the racers in every crook and nanny of the block party and was having no luck finding them. That is, until he found the crowd of partygoers and dashed off to get to them.

Muttley tried to get into the crowd by using his paws to push his way in, but no person in the crowd would even budge.

Muttley started barking as a way to get everyone's attention.

"What's that barking noise?" Little Gruesome wondered.

"I know who it belongs to." Big Gruesome replied.

"Me, too." Luke nodded. "I think we all do."

Muttley kept barking as the crowd made way for him. The Wacky Racers were stunned to see their competitor who always caused trouble.

"Muttley? What an unexpected surprise!" Said the Red Max.

"I second that." Rufus replied. "But no Dastardly?"

"Who cares?" Penelope rolled her eyes. "But it looks like Muttley wants in on the summer fun, and all the attention he's getting."

The crowd of fans were all petting Muttley.

"Oh Muttley, you're so cute!" One fangirl squealed. "I wanna take you home!"

"You're one cool looking dog!" A fanboy high-fived him.

"Wow, I never dreamed someone like Muttley would ever get that much love and attention from fans." Private Meekly thought out loud.

"Neither did I, Meekly." Sergeant Blast replied. "But I guess the fans only like him when Dastardly's not around."

"No kidding." Rebecca smiled as she and the other racers bent down to pet Muttley. "You're not so bad a pup, Muttley."

"Yeah, you're just so cute!" Penelope gave him a gentle scratch behind his ears and he licked her, making her giggle.

"Excuse me, racers." An event photographer came up to the racers. "I've been hired to take photos of the block party and the fireworks show, and I was wondering if I could have a group photo of you, please?"

"Absolutely, sir." Pat replied as he and the rest of the racers, including Muttley, gathered for their group photo.

"Everyone say cheese." The photographer told them.

"Cheese!" The racers smiled while the photographer snapped various shots of them.

"Splendid! Thank you very much!" The photographer smiled before he left.

"Pardon me, professor." A fireworks technician beckoned Pat. "It's almost dark, which means it's just about time to prepare for the 4th of July fireworks show."

"Oh yes, sir." Pat nodded, preparing to leave. "I agreed to help with the fireworks. I'll be right over."

"Let's split up, everyone." Clyde told everyone else. "The boys and I are gonna get something to eat."

"It's about time you said that, boss." Ring-a-Ding complained. "I'm starving."

"What will everyone else do?" Asked Penelope.

"We're gonna do our own thing before the fireworks show." Red Max. "I too, am gonna get something to eat."

"Unga bunga so are we." Said Gravel as he took off without Rock.

"Hey, wait for me!" Rock went after Gravel.

"Who else is hungry?" Penelope asked the rest of the racers.

"Isn't it obvious, Penny?" Peter answered her. "None of us had eaten since lunch before the race."

"In that case, let's go everyone. I hope there's something good for my little ole health and beauty diet."

"Well, I still need to take Blubber inside." Luke told the racers who haven't left yet. "Poor fella's petrified of fireworks."

"So is Sawtooth." Rufus replied.

"My poor Fiona's also afraid of fireworks, aren't you, baby?" Rebecca stroked her fox's fur.

Out of the blue, a firework set off by Pat and the firework technician as a test went off, frightening Sawtooth, Blubber and Fiona into running away in opposite directions from their owners.

"Fiona! Come back!" Rebecca cried.

"Sawtooth! Where'd you go!?" Rufus looked around.

"Don't panic, everyone." Luke reassured Rufus and Rebecca. "We'll each find our animal friends."

"I hope so." Rebecca was the most nervous of the trio. "Heaven knows how far our pets went."

"Instead of just standing there worrying let's go find them." Rufus told them.

Luke, Rebecca and Rufus split up to go look for their respective animal sidekicks. During Rebecca's search, she heard the noise of something in a flower garden.

"Fiona? Is that you?" She went to the garden, however, she didn't find Fiona. "Oh, Sawtooth, it's you! Come here, boy and let's go find Rufus."

While Rebecca scooped up Sawtooth in her arms and left the spot where she found Sawtooth, Rufus was looking for his beaver himself, when he heard something in a tree.

"What was that?" He looked around.

The sound of a blubber came from above the tree.

"I know that sound." Rufus looked up and discovered Blubber hiding in the tree, holding onto a branch. "Blubber? Well, at least I found you. Now come down from there and follow me. We'll get you back to Luke and Rebecca."

At the same time Blubber was following Rufus, Luke searched far and wide for Blubber in every place in the park, to no avail.

"Blubber, where are you pal?" He called out.

He heard the noise of rustling inside a bush.

"Blubber, are you in there?" Luke went to the bush in hopes that Blubber was there.

A familiar bark came out from inside the bush.

"That's not Blubber. But I'm certain I've heard that bark before…"

Out of the bush came Fiona, who went up to Luke and licked his hand.

"Fiona, there you are!" He scooped Fiona in his arms and then took off to find Rebecca and Rufus. "Rebecca will sure be delighted to see that I found you!"

Moments later, Luke, Rufus, and Rebecca found each other, and their individual pets raced to their owners.

"Thanks for saving Blubber, Rufus." Luke offered Rufus a handshake.

"My pleasure, Luke." Rufus gave a firm, friendly handshake before turning to Rebecca. "Thank you for finding Sawtooth, Miss Rebecca!"

"I'm glad I did." Rebecca smiled. "Luke…"

Just the very sound of Rebecca saying his name made Luke feel lovesick.

"Thank you for rescuing Fiona. You're so cute."

Luke tried to say something, but got too nervous to speak to Rebecca due to fear of messing up, so he scrambled off.

After that, Luke turned to Blubber with a disappointed look on his face.

"I can't believe I blew it!" He sighed. "How will I ever impress Rebecca?"

He looked at another area in the park, where Peter was giving Penelope a bouquet of red, white and blue roses.

"Oh my, Peter they are beautiful!" Penelope smiled with surprise and joy as she took the flowers.

"Not as beautiful as you are, Penelope." Peter embraced her and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. "My All-American angel."

"That Peter Perfect." Luke thought. "He may be infatuated with Penelope, but at least he's fearless and confident. I wish I could be more like him."

He and Blubber walked away and looked at Rebecca chatting with some of the other racers while petting Sawtooth and Fiona. Luke's smile of love did not go anyplace as his gaze was fixed on Rebecca.

"You must really like Rebecca, Luke." A voice caught both Luke and Blubber's attention.

They turned their heads and saw Peter.

"Oh, Peter, good to see you again. And by 'like' the right term is ' _love'_!"

"Yes, I have noticed." Peter nodded.

"I'm glad you're here, Pete! You're the type of guy who can't get gals off you, mainly Penelope Pitstop, so I need your help." Luke told Peter. "I'm ever so eager to win Rebecca's heart. You know, to tell her that I love her and to show her I love her, but I'm too chicken."

"I understand just how you feel, Luke. Having crushes on ladies and telling them how you really feel can be nerve-wracking."

"Peter, for years you've been so madly head over tail for Penelope, but you don't even stammer one itty bit around her." Luke replied. "Not only that, but you also have good looks. They don't call you Peter Perfect for nothing."

"Now, now Luke, you know Perfect is only a family name of mine." Peter reminded him. "Despite my last name, I'm just like any other human being. I'm not actually perfect, I'm not without my own special flaws, plus things I've done that I'm certainly not proud of. Remember when I made those fangirls cry when I told them I'm already dating Penelope?"

"I do remember." Luke nodded. "Who knew honesty could hurt so much? As for flaws, your car falls apart all the time and you like to think you're some sort of god. "

"That's getting personal, Luke." Peter frowned a bit. "I don't always think that."

"You faint at the sight of even the tiniest spiders, plus you and dogs dying in movies don't mix."

"Especially _Old Golder_." Peter sniffed, before getting back on the subject. "But despite my flaws, Penelope still loves me because of my kind, polite self. She doesn't care about my looks, she loves me for me! Luke, I've seen you and Rebecca speaking to each other, and I've noticed how happy she is around you because you're a good person to her, and you're not the kind of person Jacques Sinister was to her."

"You heard what Jacques did to her?" Luke wondered.

"Last week in Miami, when Rebecca was talking to Penny about her history with Jacques, I listened in on their conversation, and as you can imagine, I felt so sorry for her. She didn't deserve it at all." Peter gave another nod. "But I've seen how good you are to her, and I know how much you love her, for just her."

"Not only is she a beauty, but she's got a sweet heart and soul, and her love for animals and her talent with them is what makes me like her." Luke smiled. "She's beautiful and special in her own way."

"I'm glad you feel that way about her, Luke. You don't have to be as good looking as I am to win a girl's heart." Peter encouraged Luke. "Rebecca will love you best if you just be yourself, but treat her with kindness. Kindness is the key to earning a girl's love."

Luke felt better and now had the courage to speak to Rebecca again.

"Wow! I feel better already!" He grinned from ear-to-ear as he took off to find Rebecca. "Thank you, Peter! If you need me, I'm going to tell Rebecca exactly how I feel!"

"I'm glad I could give you perfect advice!" Peter called him. "Good luck, Luke! Remember what I told you!"

Luke dashed off to find Rebecca, but he only saw the other male Wacky Racers.

"Have any of you seen Rebecca?" He asked them, catching his breath.

"Not since we split up earlier." Big Gruesome shook his head.

"Consarnit!" Luke pouted. "I'd better keep looking. It's important."

"Luke, I'm over here!" Rebecca's voice called out from behind him.

Luke and Rebecca came to each other.

"I've been looking all over for you!" They both said at the same time. "Where were you?"

"Rebecca, I'm awful sorry I ran off like I did." Luke felt guilty over running off due to nervousness.

"I know why you did. You were just flustered and bashful." Rebecca wasn't the least bit mad.

"I certainly was, and it's because I… I…" Luke stammered. "Can we take this somewhere private?"

"I think we should." Rebecca agreed. "The fireworks show is almost starting, so we can go find a place to sit."

"You go on ahead. After all, ladies first."

"Oh, thank you Luke!" Rebecca went ahead of Luke to find a spot to sit and watch the fireworks while, little did she know, Luke found some flowers and picked some.

Rebecca settled onto a green picnic blanket on the grass when Luke walked up to her again.

"For you, sweet lady." Luke handed Rebecca the flowers he picked for her.

"My, they sure are lovely, Luke." Rebecca smiled as she took the flowers.

"Not as lovely as you, Rebecca." Luke looked in her eyes. "Listen, there's something I've been meaning to tell you, but I was a scaredy cat to even try."

"I've been trying to tell you something myself Luke, but I was just as hesitant as you were. I'm not afraid anymore, so I believe I should tell you now. Should I?"

"Go right ahead, Rebecca. Can I tell you, too?"

"Absolutely." Rebecca nodded.

Both Luke and Rebecca took a deep breath.

"I'm in love with you…" They both said.

They were both stunned that they each said that at the same time.

"It's amazing how two minds can think alike." Rebecca chuckled before she took another breath. "I could tell that you love me. You always give me sweet compliments, you look out for me all the time, and you're more than willing to help me when I need it, which shows how much you care about me. It's for that reason that I love you, too, Luke."

"I may spend most of my race time snoozing while Blubber gets all jittery over everything, but I'm always willing to look out for you, because you're a beauty and a sweetheart." Luke took her hand and looked in her eyes. "You have the nicest smile and I also like your talent with animals and your country lifestyle. Rebecca, I promise you, that I will never do anything to hurt you."

"And I'll never hurt you either, Luke. I trust you. I trust that you'll never do what Jacques did to me. I trust you because I know that not all men are like Jacques. I've moved on, and I'm ready to open my heart again and I'm ready to give my heart to you."

"Rebecca, you can have my heart anytime."

Peter and Penelope watched Luke and Rebecca from behind a tree.

"I'm so glad Luke and Rebecca have found each other, and had the courage to tell each other how they feel." Peter told Penelope.

"Me too, Peter." Penelope smiled and nodded. "I'm especially happy for Rebecca. It's great to see that she moved on from her past experience with Jacques and is willing to let a new man in."

"Attention partygoers." Said a man's voice through speakers in the park. "We will soon start the annual 4th of July fireworks show! Please take your seats as soon as possible. Thank you."

"Room for two more?" Penelope asked while she, Muttley and Peter came to Luke and Rebecca.

"Absolutely." Rebecca replied.

"Just make yourselves comfy cozy." Luke offered.

He and Rebecca laid on their stomachs on the picnic blanket while Peter, Penelope and Muttley got next to them and did the same.

"Can we join you?" The Red Max ran up to the two couples, Rufus behind him.

"We'd like to spend time with our friends!" Sergeant Blast also came, Private Meekly following.

"Yeah, we wouldn't miss it for even the riches of the world!" Clyde and his boys scurried up to the other racers.

"Unga bunga, here we come!" Said Rock as he, Gravel and the Gruesomes arrived last.

"Oh, how sweet is that?" Penelope couldn't help but smile. "The little ole gang's all here! Make yourselves comfortable."

"Hope you four don't mind us laying on your backs." Clyde said while he and his Mob laid on their stomachs on top of the backs of Luke, Rebecca, Peter and Penelope. "We'll have a much better view from here."

Muttley climbed on top of Clyde, who was in the center.

"Muttley, get off me…" Clyde grumbled.

But Muttley snickered and everyone else laughed.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone." Pat walked to the other racers, to their surprise.

"Professor? I thought you were working the fireworks." Rufus said.

"I planned to, but then when I saw my fellow Wacky Racers coming together to watch the show, I just couldn't find it in my heart to not join you."

"Well, we're glad you're here, professor." Peter grinned. "Have a seat. The show will be starting soon."

After Pat found himself a place to sit, the fireworks show started. Patriotic music played while each firework exploded with different colors.

"You know, I sure am glad we all decided to watch the fireworks altogether." Penelope said.

"I agree Penelope." Rebecca nodded. "It's amazing how every one of us Wacky Racers come together in times like this."

"We may compete against each other in races, but in the end we'll always be the best of friends." Clyde said.

"Actually, we're more than just friends." Peter replied. "We're a family. And that's how we'll always be. There's just something missing in this Wacky Race family."

"What's that, Peter?" The Red Max wondered.

"Yeah, what's missing Peter?" The other racers asked in unison.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but… we're missing Dastardly." Peter admitted. "I know he's a cheater and causes us trouble in the races, but he always enjoyed the summer traditions with us. This Wacky Race family this year just isn't complete without him."

"I second that, Peter." Pat agreed. "Since he and Jacques Sinister joined forces this summer he hasn't even bothered to show up and celebrate with us."

"The only thing he cares about is cheating and scheming to win." Luke also agreed with the other racers. "At least Muttley's here, but Dastardly doesn't know what he's missing."

After much more agreeing, the racers put aside their thoughts of Dastardly and Jacques and watched the fireworks continue to go off in celebration of the 4th of July.

 **Author's Note: Summer's finally back and so is this fic! I'm so sorry for the long wait, but with school, other fics, trying to figure out how I'll write the other chapters for this fic, and other stuff that happens out of the Fanfic world! Yet I'm also glad for this long hiatus because I picked up new ideas for the fic that I didn't think of last year when I first started writing this fic.**

 **A special thanks to 2 fic writers and fans:**

 **Heart of the Demons: Thank you for being a loyal fan and continuing to enjoy my HB fics and for giving me great reviews every time I post a new chapter!**

 **Count Mallet: It's great to know that I have another loyal fan who enjoys this story and is willing to keep following it. I'm a much better fic writer, especially of this story, thanks to you! By the way, in chapter 3, Rebecca didn't send that skunk to spray Dastardly and Muttley. It just wandered and of course Muttley's, as well as Dastardly's own stupidity got them nowhere. I should've told you that, and I'm sorry for any misunderstandings and confusion. I hope you'll continue to enjoy and follow this story now that it's back in the works!**

 **I hope I did an okay job on this chapter, and at playing matchmaker for Lazy Luke and my OC, Rebecca Romaine. When I was writing this fic, I wanted her to fall in love with one of the racers, except for Peter Perfect since he already has Penelope Pitstop.**

 **I do hope you enjoy this chapter, and please stay tuned for the next race! I promise you it will be eventful. But then again, isn't every Wacky Race eventful?**


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